Is the i7 2.2GHz MacBook Pro worth the price difference with respect to the 2.0GHz model?
I bought a new 15'' MBP just one week ago and I considered the same choices. Finally I took the 2.0 GHz for the following reasons:
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from the pure CPU point of view this would be an endless pursuit: there will always be a CPU with a frequency a bit higher than what you have; for example you would be tempted to go from the 2.2 to the 2.3 GHz
the 2.2 (and 2.3) have 8 MB (instead of 6 MB) of L3 cache, that's my only regret
I think it is more useful to upgrade from the 5400 RPM drive to the 7200 RPM, I think there's a noticeable difference
if you're a software developer then you should really consider to upgrade to the HD screen
In my opinion, unless your budget is unlimited these two upgrades are much worth their price than the CPU upgrade to 2.2 GHz (even considering the GPU and the cache).
The price for CPU upgrade is better spent for the screen upgrade and a SSD (from 3rd party manufacturer like Intel or OCZ). A SSD upgrade will offer much better performance boost than a CPU upgrade.
Other note: both the 2.0Ghz and 2.2Ghz have 6MB L3 cache. Only the 2.3Ghz CPU (i7-2820QM) has 8MB cache. The difference between 2.0Ghz and 2.2, 2.3Ghz version is that the 2.0Ghz (i7-2635QM) doesn't support AES-NI and Vt-d.